/ / 7 7 


,1 


THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  MISSOURI 
BULLETIN 

Volume  17  Number  7 


JOURNALISM  SERIES  14 

MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 

A TREATISE  ON  PHOTO-ENGRAVING  METHODS 


HERBERT  W.  SMITH 

Instructor  in  Illustrative  Art,  University  of  Missouri 
{Drawings  by  the  Author) 


UNIVERSITY  OF  MISSOURI 

COLUMBIA,  MISSOURI 

April,  1916 


THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  MISSOURI 
BULLETIN 

Volume  17  Number  7 


JOURNALISM  SERIES  14 

MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 

A TREATISE  ON  PHOTO-ENGRAVING  METHODS 

BY 

HERBERT  VV.  SMITH 

Instructor  in  Illustrative  Art,  University  of  Missouri 
{Drawings  by  the  Author) 


UNIVERSITY  OF  MISSOURI 

COLUMBIA,  MISSOURI 

April,  1916 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT 


Deeming  it  unsafe  to  wander  far  from  one’s  own  practical 
experience  in  a treatise  of  this  nature,  the  writer  has  handled  in 
the  main  only  such  problems  as  have  arisen  in  making  the  Uni- 
versity Missourian  an  illustrated  newspaper  and  in  teaching  the 
principles  of  photo-engraving  and  of  illustrative  art. 

Acknowledgment  for  reading  proof  and  for  resulting  sug- 
gestions is  due  R.  B.  Teachenor,  president  of  the  Teachenor- 
Bartberger  Engraving  Company,  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  and  to 
Roger  Cunningham,  secretary  of  the  same  company. 

i\Iuch  of  the  section  on  “Printing  the  Plate”  is  based  on  the 
thirty  years’  experience  of  P.  J.  Seley,  pressman,  of  Columbia, 
^lo. 

Students  in  the  School  of  Journalism  and  fellow  members 
of  the  Journalism  faculty,  who  have  by  suggestions  and  prac- 
tical work  helped  to  enliven  the  Missourian’s  columns  with  pic- 
tures, are  also  entitled  to  the  thanks  of  the  author. 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


Few  persons  have  had  the  opportunity  of  visiting  a photo- 
engraving shop,  compared  with  the  number  who  have  been  able 
to  see  the  workings  of  a printing  establishment.  This  accounts  to 
a great  degree  for  the 
general  lack  of  under- 
standing of  engraving 
processes.  Merchants 
and  others  who  have 
had  business  relations 
with  a printing  plant 
have  some  idea  of  the 
appearance  of  printing 
plates  or  “cuts”*  but 
have,  in  most  cases,  no 
conception  of  the  differ- 
ence between  the  vari- 
ous kinds  of  engravings. 

The  electrotype  is; 
familiar  to  the  retail 
merchant  because  this 
kind  of  plate  is  gener- 
ally supplied  to  him  by 
the  wholesale  houses  and  manufacturers.  Consequently  he  is 

♦There  formerly  existed  a confusion  of  usage  regarding  the  word 
“cut.”  At  a conference  of  engravers  from  forty  cities  held  in  Chi- 
cago, November  11,  1911,  a code  of  technical  trade  terms  was  adopted 
in  the  interest  of  standardization.  Later  these  terms  were  ofiBcially 
approved  by  the  International  Association  of  Manufacturing  Photo- 
Engravers.  No.  5 of  these  terms  declared  the  word  “cut”  to  be 
obsolete,  inapplicable  to  photo-engraving,  and  “engraving”  or  “plate” 
was  recommended  for  use  instead.  The  dictionaries,  it  is  claimed, 
indorsed  the  word  “cut”  as  a proper  definition  for  “an  engraved 
block”  at  a time  when  such  blocks  were  always  wood-engravings, 
which  were  in  reality  a product  made  by  cutting  with  sharp-edged 
tools.  The  present  photo-engraved  plates  are  produced  by  etching 
processes  and  are  not  “cut”  in  their  manufacture. — R.  B.  Teachenor. 

(3) 


Fig.  1 — Line  copy.  A pen  drawing. 


4 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


likely  to  designate  every  plate  as  an  “electro/’  This  misunder- 
standing has  even  extended  in  a few  instances  to  the  printer.  It 
has  resulted  in  the  engraver’s  being  asked  to  make  an  electro 
directly  from  a drawing  or  photograph  and  to  do  other  impossi- 
ble things. 

Lack  of  close  observation  has  prevented  some  from  know- 
ing that  a halftone  picture  is  made  with  dots,  and  that  the  dots 
are  in  straight  rows  that  run  across  the  picture  at  an  oblique 


Fig.  2 — Line  copy.  A pen  drawing  with  stipple  shading. 


angle.  If  not  for  the  acumen  of  the  reader,  this  condition  speaks 
well  for  the  halftone  process,  for  the  less  obvious  the  dots,  the 
better  is  the  illustration.  Dots  represent  tones  and  have  no  par- 
ticular virtue  in  themselves — in  fact,  were  some  better  means 
found  for  interpreting  the  original  copy  as  cheaply  and  practicably 
as  the  halftone  process,  dots  would  not  be  used. 

The  photo-engraver  has  awakened  to  his  share  of  responsi- 
bility in  educating  the  public.  Until  recent  years  he  worked  be- 
hind closed  doors  and  endeavored  to  keep  his  processes  secret. 
The  volume  of  his  business  has  grown  so  that  he  has  found  it 
necessary  to  prepare  campaigns  of  education  in  the  form  of  circu- 
lars, house-organs  and  posters,  to  enable  the  customer  to  meet 
him  on  the  ground  of  mutual  understanding. 

This  literature  in  general  is  good,  but  is  open  to  the  criti- 
cism of  being  fragmentary  and  disconnected.  An  article  giving  a 
good  description  of  the  process  of  etching  a halftone  plate  may 
leave  its  readers  in  the  dark  regarding  the  way  in  which  the  neg- 
ative is  made.  Books  on  photo-mechanical  subjects  have  been 
written,  mostly  technical  manuals,  for  the  workers  in  the  craft, 
but  not  suitable  for  the  layman. 


INTRODUCTION 


3 


Although  lack  of  knowledge  and  interest  in  the  mechanical 
side  of  the  work  is  pronounced,  interest  in  the  subject  matter  is 
correspondingly  great,  else  illustrated  publications  would  not  have 

today.  Through  the  pow- 
erful aid  of  pictures  to  the 
imagination  of  the  reader, 
news  is  visualized.  So 
great  is  the  demand  for  il- 
lustrated news  that  most 
metropolitan  papers  main- 
tain staff  photographers, 
who  accompany  reporters 
or  go  on  special  assign- 
ments for  pictures.  An  art 
department  to  supplement 
and  embellish  the  material 
thus  gathered  is  often  an 
adjunct.  A photo-engrav- 
ing plant  completes  the  ef- 
ficient daily. 

The  country  newspa- 
Fig.  3 — Line  copy.  per  office  is  generally  the 

A scraper-hoard  drawing.  clearing-house  for  the  en- 

graving problems  of  the  community.  The  editor  in  his  ca- 
pacity of  advertising  director,  publisher  and  job-printer  is  asked 
regarding  prices  of  plates,  how  to  prepare  copy  for  the  engraver, 
what  screens  to  use,  how  to  figure  reductions,  what  reproduction 
methods  will  best  serve  different  kinds  of  copy  and  what  kinds  of 
photographs  will  make  the  best  halftone  copy.  It  is  reasonable 
to  consider  him  the  local  authority  in  these  matters ; his  daily 
work  brings  him  in  contact  with  the  engraver’s  products.  If  not 
he,  then  who  else  in  the  community? 

Lack  of  knowledge  of  plate-making  and  its  requirements 
upon  the  part  of  the  engraver’s  customer  causes  no  end  of  trouble 
and  loss  to  both  engraver  and  customer.  The  letter  accompany- 
ing the  order  is  often  burdened  with  indefinite  instructions ; some- 


6 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


times  no  instructions  worthy  of  attention  are  given.  It  is  to  the 
credit  of  the  engraving  houses  that,  despite  these  drawbacks, 
efficient  service  is  the  rule. 

Condition  of  copy  comes  in  for  a share  of  the  blame.  Photo- 
graphs that  are  bedimmed  with  age  or  soiled,  or  that  are  flat  and 
contrastless,  or  lacking  in  details,  can  scarcely  be  rectified  in  the 
engraving  shop.  Drawings  that  are  yellow  with  age,  bethumbed 

or  made  with  other  than  jet 
black  ink  will  undoubtedly 
give  trouble.  The  fact  that 
the  engraver  returns  fair 
plates  from  this  sort  of 
copy  is  no  proof  that  the 
customer  is  not  losing  in 
some  way  as  a result  of 
bad  copy  and  unintelligent 
I ordering.  The  loss  may 
' be  in  time — that  occasion 
when  the  engraver  was 
compelled  to  write  for  a 
more  complete  statement 
of  some  point.  In  this  case  the  loss  is  the  customer’s.  The  loss 
may  be  in  money — a detail  of  instruction  omitted  or  an  error 
in  the  copy  that  is  not  noticed  until  the  proof  is  returned  from 
the  engraver.  A,s  a result  the  corrected  plate  may  be  returned 
too  late  for  the  press.  Copy  is  sometimes  misplaced  or  lost  in 
the  engraving  shop  because  of  the  lack  of  identification  inscrip- 
tion. Indifferent  photographic  work  may  require  expensive  re- 
touching in  the  engraving  shop.  These  mistakes  of  carelessness 
or  oversight  cause  financial  loss  to  both  engraver  and  customer. 

The  organization  of  an  engraving  house  is  rather  complicated. 
The  work  is  highly  specialized.  The  main  departments  are  the 
business  office,  including  superintendent,  solicitors,  clerks,  steno- 
graphers ; the  art  department,  wherein  each  worker  is  adept  in 
only  one  line,  such  as  lettering,  retouching,  etc. ; the  engraving 
department,  which  is  another  department  of  specialists : operators, 
etchers,  finishers  and  routers ; and  the  shipping  department, 
wherein  the  finished  product  is  prepared  for  shipment.  Of  course 
not  every  plant  is  so  complicated,  nor  does  it  follow  that  the 


CnlvereStT-  Missourian  lllustrstes  Itself. 

The  University  Missourian,  the  afternoon  daily 
published  and  edited  by  students  of  the  School  of 
Journalism  at  the  University  of  Missouri,  is  proud 
because  it  has  put  in.  an  up-to-date  photo-engraving 
plant  The  paper  now  makes  Its  own  cuts  from 
phtitographs-.  and  the  futore  journalists  who  are  sent 
|out  on  assignments  are  "called  down”  by  the  city 
^editor  unless  they  get  picturvg  to  go  with  stories 
I When  indicated.  (N.  B.— Here’rf  a fine  chance  for 
^he  college  boys  to  get  their  girls’  pictures  In  the 
^paper.) 


Fig.  4 — Line  copy. 

A clipping  of  type-matter. 


THE  LINE  ENGRAVING 


/ 


largest  houses  make  the  best  engravings.  Good  work  and  efficient 
service  are  to  be  found  in  the  engraving  business  only  by  trial 
on  the  part  of  the  customer. 

Because  of  the  number  of  hands  through  which  the  copy 
passes  in  the  engraving  plant,  it  is  necessary  that  plain  instruc- 
tions and  identification  inscriptions  be  written  on  or  attached  to 
the  copy.  These  will  be  considered  later  in  this  bulletin. 


THE  LINE  ENGRAVING 


A plate  that  reproduces  black-and-white  copy  with  no  gray 
tones*  is  called  a line  plate.  It  is  usually  etched f on  zinc.  A line 


plate  has  these  advantages 
for  the  printer : cheapness, 
and  ready  adaptibility  to  pa- 
per, ink  and  press.  A line 
plate  comes  nearer  to  be- 
ing “fool-proof”  in  the 
hands  of  the  printer  than 
any  other  engraving.  It  re- 
quires no  “make-ready”  or/ 
special  grade  of  ink  or  pa-  p 
per.  In  fact,  the  cheaper 
and  coarser  grades  of  paper  '' 
quite  often  yield  the  best  re- 
sults. In  electrotyping,  since 
the  depth  of  etch  is  greater  in 
the  zinc  line  plate,  better  im- 
pressions are  obtained  than 
from  the  comparatively  shal- 
low-etched halftone. 


Fig.  5 — Line  copy. 
A halftone  reprint. 


*Tone  is  the  relative  amount  of  light  reflected  by  an  object.  In 
this  discussion,  the  object  is  a photo  or  drawing.  In  other  words,  tone 
is  the  amount  of  shadow  and  light  in  the  various  parts  of  a picture. 
Color  is  a quality  apart  from  tone  and  is  not  treated  here. 

tTo  etoh  is  to  obtain  printing  depth  for  the  lines  or  dots  on  metal 
by  corroding  (or  eating  away)  the  metal  with  acid. 


8 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


In  these  points  the  zinc  line  plate  is  inferior  to  the  halftone: 
range  in  tones  of  copy  to  be  reproduced  and  range  in  the  varie- 
ties of  copy.  The  copy  that  is  to  be  reproduced  by  this  process 
must  have  black  lines  or  spaces  on  a white  background  or,  re- 
versed, white  lines  and  spaces  on  a black  background. 

Under  the  heading  of  line-cut  copy  may  be  placed : (1)  Pen 
drawings,  Figs.  1 and  2;  (2)  pages  of  printed  matter.  Fig.  4;  (3) 


Fig.  6 — Line  copy.  A crayon  drawing. 


black  crayon  and  soft  pencil  drawings.  Fig.  6;  (4)  halftone 
reprints  (providing  the  ink  is  not  gray  and  the  screen  used  in 
making  the  original  engraving  from  which  the  print  is  taken  was 
coarse).  Fig.  5;  (5)  scraper-board.  Fig.  3.  At  first  sight  it  would 
appear  that  copy  of  the  third  class  would  violate  the  basic  rule 
that  only  black-and-white  copy  may  be  reproduced  by  the  line 
process.  The  drawing,  however,  is  made  on  a rough  stock  of 
paper — a surface  with  depressions  and  elevations.  The  eleva- 
tions, or  minute  hills,  catch  the  carbon  from  the  pencil  and 
form  a cluster  of  dots  of  irregular  shapes.  Considering  the  black 
dot  as  the  unit,  the  copy  is  resolved  into  black  and  white  tones. 
It  is  the  same  in  principle  as  the  pen  stipple  drawing  (Fig.  2),  the 
shading  of  which  is  made  of  dots  produced  by  the  pen  point.  The 
dots  are  blended  by  the  eye  into  tones.  Again  the  dot  is  the 
unit  of  shading  and  fulfills  the  rule.  The  coarse  screen  halftone 
reprint  (4)  as  copy  for  reproduction  serves  as  the  equivalent  of 
the  stipple  drawing.  Pages  or  clippings  of  printed  matter  are 
treated  the  same  as  original  line  drawings  provided  the  printer’s 
ink  is  not  grayed  or  the  stock  of  paper  other  than  white.  Scraper- 
board  drawings  (5)  are  made  on  especially  prepared  chalk  sur- 
faces, whose  original  patterns  are  parallel  lines  or  stippled  effects. 
A variety  of  tones  are  produced  by  scraping  on  the  surface  with 


THE  LINE  NEGATIVE 


9 


a knife  blade,  lightly  for  a gray  tone  and  heavily  for  white. 
Dark  tones  can  be  laid  on  the  surface  with  soft  pencil  or  crayon. 

MAKING  THE  LINE  NEGATIVE 

The  old  wet  plate  process,  now  obsolete  in  photography,  is 
used  for  negative  making  in  photo-engraving.  It  gives  the  ad- 
vantage of  economy,  as  the  glass  can  be  used  over  and  over,  and 
also  gives  the  maximum  contrast  of  tones  in  the  negative. 

A piece  of  clean 
glass  is  flowed  on  one 
side  with  an  albumen 
solution  and  allowed 
to  dry.  In  the  sensi- 
tizing operation,  the 
dried  albumen  causes 
the  collodion  to  ad- 
here to  all  parts  of 
the  surface  of  the 
glass.  The  collodion 
in  turn,  becomes  the 
foundation  for  silver 
nitrate,  the  sensitiz- 
ing agent.  Collodion 
is  a solution  of  ether, 
alcohol  and  guncot- 
ton, with  certain 
chemicals  added  to  in- 
crease its  affinity  for 
silver  nitrate  The  lighting  arrangement. 

....  . ’ , {Viewpoint,  above.) 

collodiomzed  glass, 

after  being  immersed  for  several  minutes  in  the  silver  solu- 
tion, is  sensitive  to  light.  It  is  now  carried  from  the  dark  room 
in  a light-proof  plate  holder  to  the  camera.  Here  the  plate  is  ex- 
posed to  light  reflected  back  from  the  copy,  which  has  been  pre- 
viously tacked  onto  a vertical  board  in  front  of  the  lens  and 
parallel  to  the  plane  of  the  sensitive  plate.  Wherever  on  the  plate 
the  strongest  reflected  light  falls,  the  densest  opacity  of  tone  will 
be  built. 


10 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


In  Other  words,  on  the  copy  A (Fig.  7)  are  certain  black 
lines  and  spaces  on  a background  of  white  paper.  Two  arc 
lamps,  X and  Y,  in  front  of  and  on  each  side  of  the  copy  send 
forth  rays  of  light  which  fall  on  the  copy.  The  white  background 
of  the  copy  absorbs  very  little  light  but  reflects  most  of  it  back 
through  the  lens  Z,  which  focuses  the  rays  and  brings  them  into 
a perfect  image  on  the  plate  B.  The  size  of  the  image  depends 
upon  the  distance  between  the  copy  and  the  lens.  Thus  when 
a great  reduction  of  the  copy  is  desired,  the  copyboard  is  removed 
farther  from  the  lens.  The  size  of  the  image  is  measured  upon 
the  ground  glass  before  the  sensitive  plate  is  brought  from  the 
dark  room. 

Now  with  the  exposure  of  the  plate  under  way,  the  dense 
portions  of  the  image  are  being  built  by  the  action  of  the  strong 
light  reflected  from  the  white  background  of  the  copy.  Since 
the  black  lines  and  spaces  on  the  copy  reflect  no  light,  the  silvered 
collodion  on  the  sensitive  plate  in  corresponding  parts  is  unaffected 
by  the  light  and  hence  will  become  transparent  in  the  later  devel- 
oping and  fixing  operations.  The  parts  corresponding  to  the 
white  paper  of  the  copy  will  be  black  and  absolutely  opaque  in 
the  completed  negative  plate.  Thus  the  tones  of  the  original 
copy  are  reversed,  giving  rise  to  the  term  “negative,”  which 
is  applied  to  the  glass  plate.  Observe  that  the  word  “glass” 
is  used  here  with  “plate”  to  prevent  confusion  with  the  metal 
plate  in  its  final  stage,  which  is  also  termed  “plate”,  “printing- 
plate”  or  “engraving.” 

After  the  negative  is  finished  and  dried,  it  is  “stripped.” 
That  is,  the  collodion  film  on  the  glass  is  treated  with  certain 
coatings  which  enable  it  to  be  peeled  from  the  glass  plate  as  a 
thin  membrane  and  laid  on  another  clean  piece  of  glass,  after 
being  turned  over.  This  is  for  the  sake  of  a reversed  image  to 
make  the  final  print  from  the  finished  engraving  the  same  as  the 
original  copy. 

Figures  8 and  9 represent  the  evolutions  of  the  image  with 
respect  to  position  (right  to  left)  and  tone  (positive  and  negative). 
Fig.  8 is  the  original  copy — black  lines  and  spaces  drawn  on  a 
background  of  white  paper.  Fig.  9,  No.  1,  is  the  photographic 


THE  LINE  PLATE 


11 


image  obtained  on  glass  by  the  wet  plate  process — reversed  in 
both  position  and  tone.  In  2,  the  film  has  been  stripped  and  re- 
versed (in  position  only — the  tones  are  the  same  as  in  1).  In  3, 
the  image  has  been  transferred  to  a piece  of 

BjK'^^^izinc  by  a photographic  process.  The  metal 
has  been  etched,  mounted  and  is  now  a com- 
pleted  engraving.  The  image  in  3 has  been 
— ^ changed  into  a reversed  positive  print.  By  4 

is  represented  the  final  appearance — a repro- 
duction of  the  original  copy,  printed  in  ink 
on  paper. 

There  is  some  danger  that  the  film  will 
tear  or  become  distorted  in  stripping.  This 
would  be  especially  detrimental  in  certain  kinds 
of  color  work  or  in  reproduction  of  mechanical 
drawings,  in  which  extreme  accuracy  is  de- 
manded. To  obviate  stripping,  a prism  is  sometimes  interposed 
between  the  copy  and  the  lens,  which  automatically  reverses  the 
image. 

The  stripped  negative  is  used  as  a light  filter  in  transferring 
the  image  to  the  metal.  A piece  of  polished  sheet  zinc  is  sensi- 
tized with  a bichromate  fish  glue  solution.  The  film  side  of  the 
negative  is  placed  directly  against  the  sensitized  side  of  the  metal 


Fig.  8 — The  copy. 


The  negative 
gj  iunstripped) . 


The  negative 
(stripped). 


The  engraving. 


The  final  print. 


Fig.  9 — Evolution  of  the  image  with  respect  to  tone  and  position  {right 

to  left). 


12 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


and  then  exposed  in  a printing  frame  to  strong  light.  The  black, 
opaque  part  of  the  film  acts  as  a barrier  to  the  rays  of  light,  con- 
sequently the  soluble  sensitizing  coat  of  the  metal  directly  behind 
this  curtain  is  unaffected ; i.  e.,  remains  soluble.  The  transparent 
lines  and  spaces  of  the  negative,  corresponding  to  the  black  parts 
of  the  original  copy,  allow  free  passage  of  the  rays  of  light  to  the 
sensitive  coating  of  the  metal.  This  is  rendered  insoluble. 

After  this  printing  process  has  been  completed,  the  metal  is 
removed  from  contact  with  the  negative  plate  and  is  given  a 
thin  coating  of  etching  ink  on  the  exposed  side.  The  zinc  plate 
is  dropped  into  a basin  of  water,  which  instantly  dissolves  the 
/)  parts  of  the  sensitive  coating  beneath 

the  ink  that  were  not  affected  by  the 
light.  The  ink  also  “lifts”  from  the 
plate  in  these  parts,  leaving  the  metal 
bare.  The  insoluble  parts  of  the 
coating  remain  on  the 

Fig.  10 — Powdering  the  line  plate  (show-  o m . e 

ing  cross-section  of  zinc  line  etching),  A zinc  plate  is  then  dri- 
represents  dragon's  Wood  embanked  against  ed  and  dusted  with  a 


■edges  of  lines  {B). 


resinous  powder 


which,  when  heated  slightly,  amalgamates  with  the  ink  to  serve 
as  an  acid-proof  covering  for  those  parts  of  the  metal.  The 
back  of  the  plate  is  coated  with  asphaltum  varnish. 

A weakened  bath  of  nitric  acid  is  now  given  the  plate  in  a 
rocking  tub.  When  a slight  depth  of  etch  has  been  obtained — that 
is,  when  the  unprotected  surface  of  the  metal  has  been  eaten 
down  slightly — the  plate  is  dried  and  treated  with  a powdering 
of  dragon’s  blood,  a red,  resinous  powder.  The  powder  is  brushed 
lightly  across  the  surface  in  four  different  directions.  After 
brushing  in  each  direction  the  plate  is  heated  slightly  to  melt  the 
powder.  The  object  of  the  powdering  is  to  protect  the  edges 
of  the  slightly  raised  lines  from  undercutting  by  the  acid.  The 
brushing  embanks  a small  amount  of  powder  against  the  edge 
of  the  line.  The  heat  melts  it  and  resolves  it  into  an  acid-proof- 
coating.  The  brushing  is  so  conducted  as  to  keep  the  open  parts 
of  the  metal  free  from  powder. 


THE  HALFTONE 


13 


When  the  raised  parts  of  the  metal  are  thus  freed  from  the 
danger  of  being  undereaten  by  the  acid,  the  plate  is  returned  to 
the  etching  bath  and  given  another  “bite”  in  the  acid.  After  a 
greater  depth  is  reached  and  fresh  surface  of  the  edge  of  the 
lines  is  exposed,  the  plate  is  dried  and  repowdered  in  four  direc- 
tions as  before.  A third  bite  in  the  acid  is  now  given.  Usually 
three  bites  in  the  etching  tub  are  sufficient  to  give  ample  print- 
ing depth  to  the  raised  lines.  Sometimes  more  are  given. 

The  larger  open  spaces  on  the  metal  plate  are  “routed,”  or 
deeply  cut  out  with  a high-powered  drill.  This  gives  additional 
freedom  from  the  possible  clogging  of  printer’s  ink  in  the  press. 
The  metal  is  nailed  to  a wooden  block  of  such  a thickness  as  to 
make  the  mounted  engraving  type-high.  The  edges  are  planed  to 
bring  the  plate  within  the  limits  of  the  column  rules.  The  use  ot 
a type-high  planing  machine  is  sometimes  necessary  if  the  wooden 
backing  has  absorbed  moisture  and  has  swelled.  Since  wood  is 
very  susceptible  to  atmospheric  changes  it  often  needs  such 
attention,  no  matter  how  carefully  the  engraving  has  been  made. 

THE  HALFTONE 

The  halftone  process  is  especially  adapted  to  the  reproduc- 
tion of  copy  with  middle  tones — gray  tones  ranging  between  white 
and  black.  The  purpose  of  the  engraving  is  to  secure  a distribu- 
tion of  ink  in  the  final  print  by  means  of  dots  of  different  size 
whose  massed  effect  is  tones.* 

*The  three  kinds  of  printing  surfaces  are  intaglio,  plane  and  relief. 

An  intaglio  engraving  is  one  with  sunken  lines  or  spaces  into 
which  ink  is  rubbed;  in  the  press-work  the  ink  is  lifted  out  by  the 
paper.  The  original  smooth  surface  of  the  plate  yields  no  im- 
pression, since  the  ink  is  scraped  off  before  the  paper  is  brought 
into  contact  with  the  plate.  Examples  of  this  process  are  the  etch- 
ings of  such  artists  as  Whistler,  Pennell  and  Meryon,  and  the  rotary 
photogravure  process  now  coming  into  use  as  a method  for  news- 
paper pictorial  sections.  Intaglio  plates  can  be  printed  only  on 
special  presses,  entirely  different  in  construction  from  the  ordinary 
printing  press. 

On  a planographic  printing  surface  the  lines  of  the  design  are 
neither  raised  nor  sunken,  but  are  on  the  same  plane  with  the 
surface  of  the  plate.  The  best  example  of  this  method  is  the  litho- 
graphic process,  requiring  presses  especially  constructed,  entirely  dif- 
ferent from  the  type  presses. 

The  intaglio  and  planographic  methods  are  capable  of  more  re- 
fined gradation  of  tones  than  the  relief  method,  as  represented  by 
the  halftone,  but  are  far  more  limited  in  application,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  printing  facilities  different  from  the  usual  are  required. 


14 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


' The  dot  is  the  unit  of  tone  in  the  halftone  process.  A single 
dot  as  shown  in  1,  Fig.  11,  is  black;  a field  of  similar  dots  in  2 
gives  the  appearance  of  a gray  tone.  In  this  case  the  eye  blends 
the  black  tone  of  the  dots  with  the  white  background  of  paper, 

and  receives  the 
impression  of  a 
gray  tone.  Larger 
black  dots,  placed 
closer  tog  ether, 
yield  a tone  of 
darker  gray,  as  in 
3.  When  the  dots 
are  so  increased  in 
size  as  to  join,  as 
in  4,  and  present  a 
field  of  black, 
lightened  by  small 
white  openings,  the 
effect  is  a very 
dark  gray  tone, 
nearly  black. 

The  problems  of  the  halftone  plate-maker  in  reproducing 
copy  of  several  tones — for  example  a photograph — is  to  interpret 
the  continuous  and  blended  tones  of  the  original  by  black  dots 
of  varying  size.  Necessarily  some  details  of  the  original  are 
sacrificed  in  this  interpretation.  The  larger  the  scale  of  the  dots, 
the  greater  is  the  loss  of  detail,  and  likewise  the  greater  is  the 
contrast  of  tones. 

The  screen  is  the  new  element  introduced  into  negative  mak- 
ing in  the  halftone  process.  It  is  a light  filter  used  immediately 
in  front  of  the  plate  of  sensitive  glass,  to  resolve  the  action  of  the 
light  on  the  plate  into  a pattern  of  dots.  The  screen  consists  of 
two  pieces  of  glass  glued  together  and  bound  on  the  edges  with 
an  aluminum  frame.  Each  piece  of  glass  has  on  the  inner  sur- 
face a set  of  black  parallel  lines,  either  engraved  (etched  into 


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Fig.  11 — How  dots  produce  tones. 


THE  HALFTONE  SCREEN 


15 


the  surface)  or  photographed.  These  are  represented  in  Fig.  12, 
1 and  2.  The  lines  are  ruled  at  an  angle  of  45  degrees  to  the 
edges  of  the  glass  and  so  arranged  on  the  two  pieces  as  to  cross, 
at  right  angles  on  the  screen  (Fig.  12.  No.  3). 

It  is  easily  seen  in  3 that  the  pattern  of  the  screen  con- 
sists of  a great  number  of  small  squares.  The  denomination  of  a 
screen  is  determined  by  the  number  of  lines  to  the  inch  on  each 


1. 


2. 


3. 


Fig.  12 — The  halftone  screen.  (Spacing  of  Ivies  is  exaggerated.) 

part  of  the  screen.  The  directions  in  wdiich  the  lines  are  counted 
are  represented  by  the  arrow  AB  in  Fig.  12,  Numbers  1 and  2. 
In  a 100-line  screen,  the  denomination  used  for  the  University 
Missourian’s  halftone  plates,  there  are  100  x 100,  or  10,000, 
squares  in  a square  inch  of  surface.  As  each  square  of  the  screen 
is  productive  of  a dot  in  the  engraving,  there  are  10,000  dots  in 
each  square  inch  of  the  printed  picture.* 

*“When  you  realize  that  the  whole  scheme  of  halftone  process 
is  built  around  the  halftone  dot,  of  which  there  may  be  as  many  as 
40,000  in  a square  inch,  you  can  begin  to  appreciate  the  troubles  of 
the  halftone  operator.  . . . Keeping  the  dot  intact  is  as  essential 

to  a good  halftone  as  keeping  the  explosions  of  your  auto-engine 
coming  at  regular  intervals.  When  you  missed  one  explosion,  you 
knew  there  was  likely  to  be  trouble.” — A.  W.  Morley,  Jr.,  vice-president 
Electro-Light  Engraving  Company,  in  address  before  the  T.  P.  A. 


16 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


HINTS  ON  SCREEN  RULINGS* 

GENERAL — Coarse  screens  give  most  contrast;  fine  screens  most  de- 
tail. 

CHOICE  OF  SCREENS  FOR  DIFFERENT  CLASSES  OF  WORK— 


Lines  per  inch. 

For  large  poster  work 50  55 

For  rotary  newspaper  printing  from  stereo 55  60  65 

For  fiat-bed  quick  newspaper  printing 75  85  100 

For  photo-litho  transfers 110  120 

For  commercial,  book  and  periodical  printing 125  133 

For  magazine  and  fine  book  printing 140  150 

For  fine  catalogue  engravings 150  175 

For  microscopic  reproduction  and  fine  detail 200  250 

For  photogravure,  heliogravure,  intaglio  plates  and 

finest  letterpress  300  400 


Table  compiled  by  William  Gamble,  F.  R.  P.  S.,  published  by  A. 
W.  Penrose  d-  Co.,  Ltd.,  London. 

^lAKING  THE  HALFTONE 

The  copy  is  placed  on  the  upright  copyboard  of  the  camera 
and  brought  to  the  right  size  and  focus  as  in  the  case  of  the  line 
copy.  The  plate  is  sensitized  the  same  way  as  the  line  plate. 

Considerable  manipulation  of  camera  appliances  is  necessary 
in  halftone  work.  Only  one  exposure  and  one  “stop”  in  the 
lens  are  used  in  line  negative  making;  for  a halftone  plate  two 
or  three  exposures  and  as  many  stops  may  be  used.  For  those 
unacquainted  with  camera  terms,  it  may  be  explained  that  an  “ex- 
posure” is  a time  interval  during  which  light  is  admitted  through 
the  lens  to  the  sensitive  plate.  A “stop”  is  a diaphragm  that 
regulates  the  amount  of  light  that  passes  through  the  lens.  It 
also  gives  shape  to  the  dots  that  are  built  on  the  sensitive  plate 
during  successive  exposures. 

If  the  copy  is  well  balanced  in  tones,  there  will  be  in  it  a 
large  proportion  of  middle  tones,  with  a small  amount  of  deep 
shadows  and  high-lights.  Such  pictures  give  little  or  no  trouble 

♦Under  the  heading  “Hints  on  Screen  Rulings”  there  is  given 
a list  of  screens  that  is  apt  to  cause  trouble  to  both  buyer  and  en- 
graver. In  England  there  may  be  occasional  uses  for  the  many  odd 
and  especially  fine  rulings.  In  America  there  is  rarely  need  for  a 
screen  coarser  than  60  line  and  finer  than  150  line.  Therefore,  the 
usual  engraving  concern  is  ordinarily  equipped  with  screens  as  fol- 
lows: 60,  65,  85,  100,  120,  133,  150  and  possibly  175.  (Anything 
finer  than  150  line  costs  25  per  cent  extra.) — R.  B.  Teachenor. 


SCREEN  DENOMINATIONS 


17 


100-line  screen  halftone.  loO-line  screen  halftone. 


So-line  screen  halftone.  120-line  screen  halftone. 


(jO-linc  screen  halftone.  Metzograph  screen,  No.  1 

WALT  MASON  IN  SIX  ^‘REELS^' 


2 


18 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


2.  Halftone  {60-line  screen). 


to  the  lialftone  operator.  When  gray  tones  prevail  throughout 
and  shadows  are  lacking,  measures  for  increasing  the  contrast 

of  tones  may  be  neces- 
1.  Line  plate.  sary.  If  dark  tones  are 

prevalent  they  must  be 
lightened  in  the  final  re- 
production. The  half- 
tone process  always 
makes  for  decreased 
contrast.  For  instance,  a 
pen  drawing  with  black 
letters  on  a background 
of  white  paper,  al- 
though legitimately  line 
copy,  may  be  reproduc- 
ed by  the  halftone  pro- 
cess. The  results  are 
shown  in  the  accompany- 
ing illustration.  Fig.  13, 
No.  1,  is  the  line  repro- 
duction ; No.  2,  the  half- 
tone. In  No.  2 the  back- 
ground is  a field  of  uni- 
form small  black  dots. 

Fig.  n-TKe  same  copy  ung^er  Uoo  impression  to 

ferent  treatments.  the  eye  of  a light  gray 

tone.  The  face  of 
the  black  letters  is  lightened  by  small  white  openings.  From  1 
to  2 there  is  a great  diminution  of  contrast. 

When  the  copy  has  black  shadows  a very  small  circular  stop 
is  used  during  the  first  exposure.  A piece  of  white  paper  is 
pinned  over  the  copy.  White  absorbs  little  light  but  reflects  the 
most;  the  black  shadows  of  the  copy  absorb  nearly  all  of  the 
rays  of  light  and  reflect  few.  The  relative  size  of  the  dots  that 
will  be  built  on  the  sensitive  plate  during  the  triple  exposure 
depends  upon  two  factors : the  diameter  of  the  stop  in  the  lens 
and  the  relative  amount  of  light  reflected  back  from  the  different 
parts  of  the  copy.  Consequently  a black  shadow  in  the  original 


HALFTONE  DOTS 


19 


t: 


<D) 


copy  would  not  furnish  enough  reflected  light  to  build  dots  in 
the  corresponding  shadow  parts  of  the  negative.  The  function 
of  these  shadow  dots  in  the  negative  will  be  explained  later. 

The  exposure  with  the 
white  paper  over  the  copy 
builds  up  a field  of  small  uni- 
form dots  on  the  sensitive 
plate.  That  is,  if  the  plate 
were  removed  from  the  cam- 
era to  the  dark  room  and  de- 
veloped at  this  juncture  so 
that  the  latent  image  would 
become  visible,  there  would 
appear,  not  the  reproduction 
of  the  picture  on  the  copy 
board,  but  a field  of  uniform, 
disconnected,  round  dots. 

Each  dot  is  a picture  of 
the  opening  in  the  lens  and 
in  placed  behind  the  center 
of  a square  in  the  halftone 
screen.  Each  square  in  the 
halftone  screen  is  a focusing 
area  for  the  propagation  of 
this  image. 

Eig  14,  No.  1,  represents 
the  field  of  dots  on  the  sen- 
sitive plate  after  the  first  ex- 
posure. During  the  second 
exposure  (No.  2)  certain  dots 
in  the  field  that  was  formed 
during  the  first  exposure  in-  Fig.  14- 
crease  in  size.  The  pas-  dots  on  the  halftone  negative  during 
sages  where  the  growth  took  successive  exposures. 

place  correspond  to  the  parts  of  the  original  picture  that  are 
light  in  tone.  All  the  dots  grew  except  those  in  the  deepest 
shadows  where  the  reflected  light  from  the  original  copy  was  too 


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3. 

-Showing  the  growth  of 


20 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


A. 


feeble  to  build  up 
the  dots  of  the  first 
exposure.  It  is  now 
apparent  that  the 
first  exposure  with 
the  white  paper  pin- 
ned over  the  copy 
was  for  the  purpose 
of  creating  dots  in 
the  shadow  parts  of 
the  negative  where 
there  fell  little  or  no 
light  from  corre- 
sponding parts  of 
the  original  copy. 

In  the  parts  of 
the  negative  corre- 
sponding to  the 
lightest  parts  of  the 
copy,  it  is  necessary 
to  build  the  largest 
dots.  The  necessity 
for  this  will  be 
shown  later.  The 
dots  must  be  of  such 
size  as  to  enable 
them  to  join  at  the 
corners  in  a check- 
erboard formation. 

The  third  and  last 
exposure,  Fig.  14, 

No.  3,  that  is  given 
to  the  negative  is  for 
the  purpose  of  en- 
larging and  joining  the  dots  in  the  high-light  passages. 

Fig.  15,  A,  is  a halftone  reproduction  of  a photograph.  Fig. 
15,  B,  is  a reproduction  of  the  halftone  negative  from  the  same 
photograph. 


Fig.  15— Showing  504ine  halftone  and  nega- 
tive made  from  the  same  copy.  (Portrait  of 
Col.  B.  B.  Herbert,  editor  of  the  National 
Printer-Journalist.) 


HALFTONE  STOPS 


21 


The  lightest  tone  of  is  the  collar.  This  is  the  darkest 
in  the  negative,  B.  Observe  the  large,  black  dots  joined  at  the 
corners.  The  coat,  collar  and  necktie  which  are  darkest  in  the 
photograph,  are  lightest  in  the  negative,  or  rather  have  the 
greatest  transparency.  The  black  dots 
in  this  passage  are  small,  round  and  iso- 
lated. The  dots  in  the  background  of  the 
negative  are  larger,  approaching  the 
square  in  shape,  toward  the  upper  right- 
hand  corner,  where  they  are  connected 
as  in  the  collar. 

For  the  third  exposure,  specially 
shaped  stops  are  often  used  in  the  lens. 

Fig.  16,  No.  1,  a square  stop  with 
extended  corners,  is  sometime  called  a 
Horgan  stop  after  the  originator,  S.  H. 

Horgan.  Another  name  is  the  “eared” 
stop  because  of  the  fancied  resemblance 
of  the  corners  to  ears.  A square  stop 
(Fig.  16,  No.  2)  is  often  used.  Many 
halftone  operators  are  partial  to  the 
round  stop  (Fig.  16,  No.  3)  because 
gradation  of  tone  is  best  preserved  by 
it  use. 

Since  the  dots  are  images  of  the 
stop,  it  is  apparent  that  the  extended 
corners  of  the  eared  stop  (Fig.  16,  No. 

1)  will  assist  their  joining  in  the  high 
lights. 

In  Fig.  17  is  shown  a group  of  high-  during  the  third 

light  dots  behind  the  squares  of  the 

halftone  screen.  The  corners  of  the  eared  and  square  dots  over- 
lap behind  the  black  lines  of  the  screen.  They  do  this  because  of 
the  diffusion  and  bending  of  the  rays  of  light  around  the  black 
lines  as  they  pass  through  the  screen  to  the  plate.  The  distance 
between  the  screen  and  the  plate  and  the  length  of  exposure  regu- 
late this  diffusion. 

When  the  square  stop  is  used  (Fig.  17,  No.  2)  the  corners 


Fig.  16 — Stops 


22 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE  . 


join  more  reluctantly.  The  likelihood  of  failure  of  the  dots  to 
join  is  still  greater  when  the  round  stop  is  used  (No.  3). 

In  other  words,  the  operator  has  the  greatest  latitude  in 
timing  the  exposure  when  No.  1 is  used  and  the  least  when  No. 
3 is  the  stop. 


Fig.  17 — High-light  dots 
on  the  negative  seen  through 
the  halftone  screen  {mag- 
nified). 


When  contrast  is  lacking  in  copy, 
the  use  of  the  eared  stop  insures  more 
brillancy  of  contrast  but  tends  to  lose 
details  in  the  shadows.  If  the  origi- 
nal copy  is  well  balanced,  so  that  there 
is  no  necessity  for  change  in  the  re- 
lation of  tones,  the  round  stop  is  best. 

The  length  of  the  exposure  de- 
pends upon  the  condition  of  copy,  the 
strength  of  the  light  and  other  fac- 
tors. It  is  a matter  of  judgment  for 
the  operator.  Poor  copy  often  causes 
many  unsuccessful  trials,  spoiled  neg- 
atives and  loss  of  time.  The  oper- 
ator examines  with  an  enlarging  glass 
the  condition  of  the  dots  after  the 
negative  is  developed.  If  the  shadow 
dots  are  too  large  and  the  high-light 
dots  joined  too  closely,  allowing  in- 
sufficient transparency,  he  must  re- 
duce the  size  of  the  dots  with  a cut- 
ting solution.  If  the  high-light  dots 
have  failed  to  join,  there  is  no  remedy 
— the  negative  must  be  remade. 

A halftone  negative  requires  far 
more  skill  and  time  in  the  making  than 
the  line  negative.  This  is  one  factor 
that  enters  into  the  higher  cost  of 
halftone  engraving. 

The  halftone  negative,  like  the 
line  negative,  must  be  reversed  before 


being  used  to  transfer  tbe  image  to  the  sensitized  metal. 


HALFTONE  ETCHING 


23 


SUMMARY— THE  HALFTONE  NEGATIVE 

Dots  interpreting  the  tones  of  a picture  are  built  on  a sensi- 
tive plate  during  its  stay  of  several  minutes  in  the  camera.  A 
filter,  whose  pattern  is  minute  squares,  is  interposed  between  the 
lens  and  the  sensitive  plate.  This  filter,  or  screen,  resolves  the 
image  of  the  picture  that  is  on  the  copy  board  into  dots  on  the 
plate.  At  intervals,  while  the  glass  plate  is  still  in  the  camera, 
the  opening  in  the  lens  is  changed  from  small  to  larger  diameters 
in  order  to  create  a relation  of  sizes  in  the  dots  that  are  being 
formed  on  the  negative  plate  to  correspond  to  the  tone  relations 
of  the  original  picture,  except  that  the  tones  of  the  negative  plate 
image  will  be  the  reverse  of  those  of  the  original. 

Each  dot  on  the  negative  plate  is  a replica  in  shape  of  the 
opening  in  the  lens.  The  size  of  the  dot  depends  (1)  on  the 
strength  of  light  reflected  from  the  corresponding  part  of  the 
original  picture  and  (2)  upon  the  size  of  the  opening  in  the  lens. 

The  halftone  negative  is  a light  filter  used  in  transferring  the 
image  to  the  surface  of  the  metal  preparatory  to  etching. 

ETCHING 

Whether  the  metal  is  zinc  or  copper  depends,  in  halftone 
work,  upon  the  denomination  of  the  screen,  the  quality  desired 
and  the  intended  use  of  the  engraving.  A,s  a rule,  when  the 
screen  is  finer  than  100  lines,  copper  is  used.  With  a screen 
of  100  lines,  or  coarser,  zinc  may  be  employed.  In  newspaper 
work,  economy  demands  the  use  of  zinc.  Copper  is  tougher  and 
more  durable,  but  considerably  more  expensive. 

The  difference  in  the  handling  of  zinc  and  copper  in  half- 
tone work  is  not  materially  great.  The  enamel  process  is  used  in 
sensitizing  the  surface  of  the  metal  when  the  screen  is  fine.  A 
coarse  screen  negative  permits  the  use  of  the  inking  process  that 
is  employed  in  zinc  line  etching.  The  enamel  is  a fish-glue  bi- 
chromate solution  similar  to  the  sensitizing  solution  for  line 
etchings,  except  that  it  is  much  thicker.  An  added  amount  of 
fish-glue  gives  it  a body  with  which  to  resist  acid. 

A piece  of  metal  of  the  correct  size  is  coated  with  the  enamel 
solution  and  dried.  Its  surface  is  now  sensitive  to  strong  light. 


24 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


The  film  side  of  the  stripped  negative  is  placed  against  the  enamel 
surface  of  the  metal  and  both  are  locked  in  a printing  frame. 
After  several  minutes’  exposure  to  light,  parts  of  the  enamel  are 
rendered  insoluble.  Other  parts  remain  soluble.  The  parts  made 
insoluble  are  those  immediate- 
ly behind  the  transparent 
parts  of  the  negative.  The 
enamel  behind  the  dots  re- 
ceives no  light,  hence  remains 
soluble.  After  the  exposure, 
running  water  removes  the 
soluble  enamel,  leaving  the 
metal  bare  in  those  parts. 

The  enamel  dots  that  remain 
correspond  to  the  transpar- 
ent parts  of  the  negative. 

Fig.  19,  No.  1,  represents 
the  high-light  portion  of  a 
negative,  densely  spread  with 
dots  joined  at  the  corners. 

When  the  image  is  transfered  to  the  metal,  the  transparent  open- 
ings (clear  glass)  in  the  negative  labeled  A will  constitute  the 
area  of  the  enamel  dots.  The  bare  surface  of  the  metal  will 
correspond  to  the  parts  of  the  negative  labeled  B.  The  enamel 
dots  are  those  that  will  be  left  standing  in  relief  in  the  finished 
engraving  to  yield  their  black  impressions  to  the  paper.  The  ne- 
cessity for  the  junction  of  the  dots  in  the  negative  is  apparent 
after  a study  of  Fig.  19.  Should  the  dots  B in  1 fail  to  join,  the 
spaces  A will  be  connected  as  in  2 and  yield  too  dark  a tone  in 
the  final  print. 

No.  2 of  Fig.  19,  represents  a shadow  part  of  a negative. 
Since  the  transparent  ground  A is  continuous,  the  enamel  on  the 
metal  will  remain  continuous  with  the  exception  of  the  tiny  spots 
back  of  the  dots  labeled  B.  These  spots  on  the  metal  will  retain 
no  enamel,  hence  will  be  subject  to  the  corroding  power  of  the 
acid.  As  a result  they  will  appear  as  sunken  places  in  the  finished 
engraving.  Their  function  is  to  introduce  light  into  the  shadows 
and  gray  them.  Without  them  the  printed  halftone  would  be  jet 


Fig.  18 — The  printing  frame  ex- 
posed to  light. 


THE  QUARTER-TONE 


25 


black  in  the  shadows — a 
condition  that  might  im- 
pair the  balance  of  the 
tones  on  the  printed  page. 
Shadow  dots  are  especi- 
ally desirable  when  the 
plates  are  to  be  stereotyp- 
ed. 

If  the  shadow  dots 
(B)  on  the  negative,  Fig. 
19,  No.  2,  are  too  large, 
the  print  made  from  the 
completed  engraving  will 
be  too  gray  in  the  shad- 
ows. They  will  result  in 
a flat,  contrastless  half- 
tone picture. 

In  Fig.  20,  is  shown 
a picture  under  two  treat- 
ments. In  preparing  the 
halftone  negative  for  No. 
1,  the  shadow  dots  were 
dispensed  with  entirely. 
The  shadows  in  this  pic- 
ture yield  a jet  black  tone 
entirely  unrelieved  by 
white  dots.  In  No.  2, 
the  shadow  dots  were 
made  large  on  the  nega- 
tive. The  resulting  pic- 
ture printed  from  the 
plate  is  gray  in  the  shad- 
ows. A better  reproduc- 


(QP 

<0 

diK 

dP 

dp 

(DP 

dP 

dP 

(HP 

dP 

K 

(© 

dp^®’ 

dP 

djj) 

(DP 

dp 

(CP 

dP 

(HP 

(HP 

dP 

dP 

dP 

(ID) 

(HP 

dP 

h 

(HP 

(HP 

(HP 

dP 

(HP 

(HP 

dP 

(25) 

(HP 

dP 

dp 

dP 

Fig.  19 — Showing  the  relation  of  the 
dots  on  the  negative  to  the  enamel  dots 
on  the  metal.  The  shaded  diots  (B)  in 
1 revresent  the  high-light  dots  on  the 
negative.  Those  in  2 represent  the  shadow 
dots  {B)  on  the  negative.  The  open  spaces, 
labeled  A in  both  1 and  2,  represent  clear 
tion  of  this  picture  would  9l(iss  in  the  negative  which  gives  way  to 
have  shown  the  shadows 

not  so  black  as  in  No.  1,  nor  so  gray  as  in  No.  2,  The  engraver 
can  regulate  the  amount  of  contrast  to  a considerable  extent,  al- 
though the  tones  of  the  original  photograph  limit  him.  For  in- 


26 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


stance,  it  may  be  possible  for  him  to  make  a slight  increase  in 
contrast  in  reproducing  an  extremely  gray  photograph,  but  he 
may  not  be  able  to  make  it  into  an  engraving  that  will  print  a 
picture  with  well-balanced  tones. 


1.  2. 

Fig,  20 — A halftone  without  and  with  shadow  dots  (60-Une  screen). 


When  the  sensitized  metal  has  been  exposed  in  the  printing 
frame  sufficiently  long,  it  is  removed  and  held  under  running 
water.  The  soluble  parts  of  the  coating  are  washed  away  from 
the  metal.  Heat  is  then  applied  to  harden  the  enamel,  after  which 
the  plate  is  ready  for  the  etching  bath.  Acid  in  a rocking  tub  is 
dashed  back  and  forth  across  the  face  of  the  plate  until  the  open 
parts  of  the  metal  are  eaten  down,  leaving  the  enamel  dots  stand- 
ing in  relief. 

The  form  and  area  of  the  dots  undergo  a change  during 
the  etch.  Fig.  21,  No.  1,  represents  in  the  upper-left  corner  (A), 
the  enamel  dots  in  the  high-lights  before  the  etch  begins.  As  the 
etch  progresses  the  acid  eats  downward  and  laterally.  The  lateral 
action  of  the  acid  decreases  the  diameter  of  the  dots  by  undercut- 
ting the  enamel-protected  surface,  leaving  an  umbrella-like  fringe. 
When  this  fringe  is  broken  off  by  brushing,  the  enamel  dots  (now 
in  relief)  have  the  appearance  of  the  dots  in  Fig.  21,  No.  2,  upper 
left  corner  (A). 


RE-ETCHING  THE  HALFTONE 


27 


It  is  highly  important  that  the  enamel  dots  in  No.  1,  A,  be 
as  large  as  possible  without  being  connected  at  the  corners,  else 
the  dots  would  reduce  in  diameter  and  finally  disappear  before 
sufficient  depth  had  been  at-  l. 

tained  in  the  etch  (No.  2,  A). 

In  the  lower  right  hand 
corner  (B),  No.  1,  is  repre- 
sented the  small  openings  of 
the  enamel  in  the  shadows. 

When  the  plate  is  etched  (B), 

No.  2,  these  openings  have 
an  increased  diameter  as  well 
as  depth. 

RE-ETCHING 


It  frequently  happens 
that  after  a halftone  plate 
has  been  etched  as  far  as  the 
dots  in  certain  places  may 
stand,  other  parts  of  the  sur- 
face may  need  further  etch- 
ing. This  is  often  the  case 
in  reproducing  a flat  or  an 
over-“contrasty”  picture. 

When  the  copy  is  flat  and 
contrastless,  re-etching  will 
give  brilliance  to  the  high- 
lights and  shadows.  Details 
in  the  shadows  may  be 
brought  out  by  re-etching  an 
over-“contrasty”  plate. 


Fig.  21 — How  enamel  dots 
on  the  metal  plate  change  dur- 
ing the  etch. 


Re-etching  consists  in  painting  out  with  acid-proof  varnish 
the  parts  that  are  etched  enough  and  in  returning  the  plate  to 
the  etching  bath.  The  plate  may  be  removed  from  the  acid  and 
parts  may  be  painted  out  again,  preparatory  to  a third  etch ; 
and  so  on,  until  the  relations  of  the  tones  on  the  plate  are  im- 
proved. Between  etches  the  plate-maker  may  clean  the  surface 


28 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


of  the  plate  and  rub  a white  powder  (magnesia)  into  the  crev- 
ices between  the  dots  to  determine  the  condition  of  the  plate. 


A.  B. 

Fig.  22 — A halftone  ''flat-etched''  (A),  and  re-etched  (B). 
i 120-line  screen) 

After  the  final  etch  the  edges  of  the  plate  are  beveled  or 
rabbeted  by  a power  machine  in  order  to  provide  space  for  nail- 
ing the  metal  to  the  wooden  backing.  The  mounted  plate 
is  then  planed  on  the  edges  and  back  (if  more  than  type-high). 
It  is  now  ready  for  the  printer. 

A COMBINATION  OF  LINE  AND  HALFTONE 

Combinations  of  the  two  methods  are  represented  most  fre- 
quently by  the  halftone  news  picture  and  its  surrounding  line 
border  design.  The  photo  is  first  taken  to  the  art  department, 
where  a pen  border  design  with  silhouetted  or  blackened  panels 
is  drawn.  The  engraver  makes  a line  negative  from  the  draw- 
ing. Then  he  makes  separate  halftone  negatives  from  the  photo- 
graphs. The  line  negative  is  then  stripped  and  into  its  transparent 


COMBINATION  PLATES 


29 


parts  (corresponding  to  the  silhouettes  or  black  panels  of  the 
drawing)  are  inserted  the  halftone  negative  films,  which  are  made 
of  such  a size  as  to  fit  exactly  into  the  transparent  parts  of  the 
line  negative.  The  print  is  then  made  from  the  negative  onto  the 
metal  and  etched.  When  the  halftone  part  of  the  plate  is  etched 
sufifitiently  deep,  it  is  “stopped  out’’  (painted  over)  with  asphal- 
tum  or  acid-proof  varnish,  and  the  remaining  lines  of  the  sur- 
rounding l^order  are  etched  deeply  after  the  manner  of  line  plates. 


Fig,  23 — (A)  Pen  decoration  ivith  silhouette  for  halftone  insert. 
{B)  A combination  line  and  halftone  picture  (85-line  screen). 


30 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


HOW  TO  REPRODUCE  VARIOUS  KINDS  OF  COPY 


Compiled  by  W.  H.  Baker,  Cleveland,  Ohio 


Copy 

Halftone 

Metzograph 

Line 

Wash  drawing,  water  color, 
etc (1) 

Good 

Good 

No 

Line  drawing  (pen-and-ink) 
(2) 

Good 

if  re-engraved 

Fair 

Best 

Crayon,  charcoal  or  pen- 
cil drawing (2) 

Good 

Best 

Good 

Photograph (1) 

Good 

Good 

No 

Scraper  board  (lines,  stipple, 
etc.) 

Poor 

Good 

Best 

Reprint  from  wood  engrav- 
ing  (1) 

Fair 

Good 

Good 

Reprint  from  halftone  .... 

Not 

recommended 

Best 

Fair  if 
coarse  screen 

Reprint  from  line 

No 

Fair 

Best 

Lithograph 

Fair 

Best 

Only  fair 

Steel  and  copperplate  en- 
graving  (1) 

Good 

Good 

Fair 

Etchings  (dry  point,  etc.).  . 

Fair 

Best 

Fair 

Maps,  intricate  rule  work 
etc (3) 

No 

No 

Good  if 
good  copy 

Combination  wash  and  pen- 
and-ink  

Good 

Good 

No 

Oil  paintings (1) 

Good 

Good 

No 

Type  matter,  writing,  etc. 

(4) 

No 

No 

Best 

(1)  May  also  be  photographed  on  wood  and  engraved  by  hand; 
excellent  for  artistic  results.  (2)  May  also  be  drawn  and  photographed 
and  cut  on  wood.  (3)  Wax  engraving  is  preferable.  (4)  Wax  en- 
graving sometimes  better  adapted. 

— Chart  published  hy  the  Eclipse  Electrotype  and  Engraving  Com- 
pany, Cleveland,  Ohio. 


THE  METZOGRAPII  SCREEN 


31 


PHOTOGRAPHIC  COPY  FOR  HALFTONES 

A deep,  reddish-brown  photograph,  on  gelatine  paper,  smoothly 
burnished,  with  intense  shadows  and  bright  high-lights,  will  make  the 
best  halftone  reproduction.  Avoid  dead,  unburnished  copies  or  photo- 
graphs containing  a bluish  tone.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  make  per- 
fect work  from  the  matt-finish  or  gray  photograph.  In  selecting  photo- 
graphic prints  for  copies,  consider  well  the  following:  Solio  paper, 
properly  toned  and  given  a glace  finish  by  squeegeeing  on  paraffined 
glass  or  tintype  plate,  is  the  best  of  all.  “Aristo  Platino”  and  papers  of 
similar  surface  do  not  reproduce  well.  Platinum  paper  (smooth  surface) 
with  good  black  color  makes  good  copy.  Sepia  prints  do  not  reproduce  in 
true  values,  the  darks  coming  too  dark  and  the  lights  too  light.  Of  the 
developing  papers.  Glossy  Velox  is  one  of  the  best.  Carbon  Velvet  is  also 
good,  reproducing  like  a smooth  platinum  paper.  Excellent  results  can 
be  had  from  Azo  Grade  C,  Azo  Grade  F and  Glossy  Aristo  papers.  East- 
man News  Bromide  is  made  especially  for  halftone  reproduction  and 
gives  fine  black  and  white  prints  of  high  gloss  surface.  The  glossiness 
of  surface  is  essential  for  good  halftone  work.  All  rough  papers  are 
bad  to  work  from.  Negatives  and  tin-types  should  never  be  offered 
as  copy.  Unfixed  photos  or  proofs  should  never  be  sent  to  the  engraver, 
as  they  turn  black  when  exposed  to  light.  Remember  that  a good  half- 
tone cannot  be  made  from  bad  copy,  unless  artist’s  time  is  added  to  the 
charge.  It  is  seldom  that  a photograph  cannot  be  improved — there  is 
usually  a necessity  to  strengthen  outlines  or  shadows  and  retouch  high- 
lights, to  create  a greater  contrast  between  the  different  parts  of  the 
picture.  Where  extra  work  is  necessary  it  is  impossible  to  determine 
the  cost  without  having  the  copy  for  inspection.  A halftone  reproduc- 
tion from  a halftone  print  is  liable  to  show  more  or  less  “pattern”  from 
interference  of  the  two  sets  of  cross  lines. 

From  The  Journal  of  Engraving,  published  bg  the  Teachenor-Bart- 
berger  Engraving  Company,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

THE  METZOGRAPH  (MEZZOGRAPH)  SCREEN 

One  of  the  chief  objections  to  the  halftone  screen  is  the 
mechanical  appearance  of  pictures  made  by  it,  especially  when  a 
coarse  screen  is  used.  To  overcome  this  objection  a screen  has 
been  devised  with  a pattern  of  irregular  dots  in  a field  of  uni- 
form density.  The  picture  reproduced  by  this  screen  has  a peb- 
bled softness  of  tones  admirably  suited  to  the  interpretation  of 
certain  subjects,  such  as  the  foliage  of  trees,  a growing  crop  of 
grain  or  grass,  fur-bearing  animals,  a rough  stone  wall.  Com- 
mercially, the  screen  is  coming  into  favor  for  the  reproduction 


32 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


of  garments,  textiles,  furs,  feathers,  etc.  When  a subject  de- 
mands a firm,  “contrasty”  treatment,  the  metzograph  is  not  so 
good  as  the  halftone.  A metzograph  plate  is  slightly  more  ex- 
pensive than  a halftone. 

PRINTING  THE  PLATE 

Printing  directly  from  the  original  plate  on  a flat-bed  press 
gives  better  results  in  halftone  work  than  stereotyping,*  inas- 
much as  details  are  often  lost  by  the  last  named  method.  How- 
ever, direct  press-work  is  not  without  its  problems  for  the  printer. 
Lack  of  printing  pressure,  too  great  pressure,  dirty  plates,  im- 
proper distribution  of  ink  and  shallow-etched  plates  are  a few  of 
the  difficulties.  Lack  of  pressure  may  yield  a gray,  unintelligible 
picture.  The  first  thing  to  do  is  to  see  that  the  block  is  exactly 
type-high.  Despite  the  fact  that  the  engraver  has  already  taken 
this  precaution,  atmospheric  changes  to  which  the  block  may  be 
subjected  in  the  printing  shop  or  elsewhere  will  cause  a shrink- 
ing, warping  or  expanding  of  the  wooden  base.  Only  plates 
with  solid  metal  bases  (which  are  expensive)  are  free  from  these 
tendencies. 

Be  sure  that  the  block  is  absolutely  flat.  An  engraving  that 
rocks  after  being  locked  up  in  the  form  loosens  surrounding 
quads  and  slugs,  which  work  up  and  yield  impressions  on  the 
paper. 

To  make  the  block  absolutely  type-high  and  flat  use  a type- 
high  machine,  of  which  many  makes  are  now  on  the  market. 

“This  is  the  best  investment  that  a printer  can  make,”  says 
P.  J.  Seley,  a veteran  Columbia  pressman.  “It  is  a big  matter 
of  dollars  and  cents.” 

A cheap,  hand-planing,  type-high  machine  may  answer  the 
purpose  for  the  small  printing  shop.  Lay  the  block  on  the  bed 
of  the  machine  with  the  metallic  face  downward.  Lay  a thick- 
ness of  several  sheets  of  paper  under  the  plate.  Then  plane  the 

♦Stereotypes — Plates  made  by  casting  metal  on  matrices  (singular 
matrix).  The  matrix  is  a paper  impression  of  type  matter  and  en- 
gravings. 


PRESS  WORK 


35 


wooden  back  until  every  part  of  the  wood  has  been  scraped  by 
the  cutting  edge.  The  block  will  now  be  absolutely  flat,  but  will 
be  lacking  in  type  height  to  the  approximate  thickness  of  the 
sheets  of  paper  that  were  beneath  the  plate  during  this  operation. 
Paste  the  same  number  of  sheets  on  the  freshly  planed  surface 
of  the  wooden  back.  Determine  thickness  of  block  with  a type- 
high  gauge. 

This  work  of  rectifying  the  height  of  the  block  should  be 
done  immediately  before  locking  it  in  the  form.  Further  delay 
might  involve  a change  in  thickness. 

The  fact  that  a halftone  block  is  perfectly  type-high  does  not 
mean  that  it  will  yield  a satisfactory  impression  on  the  paper. 
The  edges  of  a plate  have  a tendency  to  print  up  more  strongly 
than  the  center.  The  larger  the  plate,  the  more  pronounced  will 
be  this  tendency. 

In  the  highest  grades  of  printing,  the  pressman  prepares  a 
“make-ready*’  whereby  the  thickness  of  the  block  (already  type- 
high)  is  gradually  increased  toward  the  center  by  concentric  rings 
of  paper  pasted  on  the  back  of  the  wooden  base.  Other  parts 
needing  additional  pressure  may  be  located  by  proving. 

The  “make-ready”  is  impracticable  for  newspaper  plates.  The 
most  that  can  be  done  for  these  is  to  add  to  the  thickness  of  the 
block  by  pasting  layers  of  paper  on  the  back,  without  giving  time  to 
a local  increase  in  thickness.  Then,  too,  a proper  overlay  will 
secure  the  necessary  stress  in  the  press  and  give  sufficient  pressure 
from  above  in  the  correct  areas. 

In  newspaper  work,  the  overlay  may  be  built  by  pasting  on  the 
cylinder  bits  of  paper  in  parts  corresponding  to  dim  areas  of  the 
engraving.  These  may  be  located  by  first  taking  a proof  of  the 
engraving.  As  much  care  should  be  exercised  as  time  will  allow 
in  attending  to  newspaper  plates.  Any  attention  to  them  what- 
ever is  an  improvement  on  the  tendency  of  many  country  press- 
men to  lock  the  block  in  the  form  without  any  preparation. 

High-grade  printing  calls  for  more  carefully  prepared  over- 
lay. Several  methods  exist,  all  of  which  involve  the  use  of  a 
raised  or  embossed  proof  of  the  half-tone.  The  proof  is  placed 
on  the  cylinder  in  absolute  register  with  the  face  of  the  engraving. 
3 


34 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


SO  that  each  dot  of  the  overlay  proof  registers  exactly  on  its  cor- 
responding raised  dot  of  the  plate.  Unless  this  last  named  condi- 
tion obtains,  the  overlay  is  worse  than  useless.  Four  kinds  of 
overlay  are  most  commonly  used.  One  is  a thin  sheet  of  zinc 
on  which  a proof  of  the  engraving  is  printed  directly  from  the 
plate.  A slight  etch  in  nitric  acid  is  given  the  sheet,  producing 
a raised  effect.  Another  is  a chalk  relief  overlay.  Two  other 
methods  are  based  on  ‘'pulling’’  a proof  from  the  engraving  and 
building  an  embossed  effect  from  the  inked  proof  on  paper.  This 
is  done  by  dusting  emery  powder  across  the  surface.  The  pow- 
der that  adheres  to  the  ink  is  incorporated  with  it  by  a slight 
heating  of  the  paper.  A smooth  varnish  is  afterwards  applied. 

Too  great  pressure  is  as  much  an  evil  as  insufficient.  The 
edges  of  a halftone  plate  will  print  harshly  and  even  threaten  to 
break  through  the  paper.  The  small  raised  dots  in  the  high- 
lights may  break  down,  causing  a dirty  smudge  in  corresponding 
parts  of  the  hnal  print.  A line  engraving  suiters  especially  from 
too  great  pressure.  The  “shoulders”  of  the  metal  left  on  the 
plate  by  the  router  drill  may  show  up  in  the  print. 

The  remedy  is  to  decrease  the  thickness  of  the  block.  Sand- 
papering the  wood  base  may  be  resorted  to,  although  this  crude 
method  is  not  likely  to  produce  uniform  thickness.  Here  again, 
a type-high  machine  is  of  the  utmost  value  to  the  printer. 

Careful  cleaning  of  the  plate  with  gasoline  and  brush  before 
starting  the  press  will  obviate  the  third  evil,  dirty  plates.  Brushes 
with  fine  metal  bristles  are  now  on  the  market  for  the  purpose. 
Brushing  at  an  angle  of  45  degrees  (coinciding  with  the  direction 
of  the  rows  of  dots  on  the  plate)  removes  the  bits  of  lint,  ink, 
and  other  matter  that  accumulate  between  the  dots.  Clean  all 
plates  before  filing  them  away.  If  lye  is  used  in  cleaning  forms 
containing  type  matter  and  engravings,  it  should  be  neutralized 
with  diluted  acetic  acid  or  vinegar,  because  lye  tends  to  corrode 
some  metals,  especially  zinc.  Xever  hold  a paper  wrapping  of  a 
plate,  especially  a copper  plate,  in  place  with  a rubber  band,  since 
rubber  has  a corrosive  effect.  Fasten  the  wrai)per  with  a gum- 
med strip  or  piece  of  string. 


PRESSVVORK 


35 


Improper  distribution,  of  ink  may  be  the  result  of  using  stiff 
ink  in  cool  weather  or  soft  ink  in  warm  weather.  Use  season- 
able rollers,  free  from  holes  and  other  defects.  Never  use  soft 
ink  on  a hard  roller. 

Engravings  that  are  etched  too  shallow  will  never  give  satis- 
factory results,  no  matter  how  careful  the  presswork.  The 
printer  may  easily  diagnose  the  trouble  in  the  case  of  zinc  line  en- 
gravings, inasmuch  as  the  raised  parts  of  the  printing  surface 
are  comparatively  far  apart.  The  depth  of  the  etch  is  more  easily 
discernible  than  in  a halftone.  Experience  will  soon  teach  one 
what  to  expect  in  a satisfactory  line  etching. 

Gauging  the  depth  of  the  dots  in  a halftone  plate  is  not  so 
easy.  Some  printers  profess  to  do  this  by  rubbing  the  tips  of 
the  lingers  or  the  palm  of  the  hand  across  the  plate  to  get  the 
“feel”  of  the  dots.  The  use  of  an  enlarging  glass  would  be 
much  better. 

A more  scientific  method  in  gauging  both  kinds  of  engrav- 
ings is  the  use  of  a micrometer  instrument  especially  designed 
for  the  purpose. 

Another  instrument  of  value  to  printers  is  a gauge  for  de- 
termining the  screen  denomination  of  halftones.  This  inform- 
ation is  of  the  greatest  value  in  deciding  the  kind  of  paper 
and  ink.  The  screen  denomination  of  a halftone  that  has  been 
newly  made  is  known,  but  after  an  engraving  has  been  stored 
away  and  later  brought  out  for  use,  the  screen  numeral  is  prob- 
ably forgotten.  The  printer  would  do  well  to  mark  the  numeral 
on  the  plate  before  filing  it  away.  If  an  old  halftone  of  unknown 
denomination  is  brought  in  by  a customer,  the  problem  may  be 
vexatious.  At  least  one  engraving  firm,  as  a mark  of  service  to 
the  customer,  has  established  the  practice  of  stamping  the  screen 
numeral  with  a die  on  the  beveled  edge  of  the  metal. 


36 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


PROPORTIONAL  REDUCTION 


37 


HOW  TO  DETERMINE  PROPORTIONAL 
REDUCTION 

In  this  specific  example,  the  drawing  AEXF  is  to  be  made 
into  a plate  2 VO  inches  wide.  The  printer  wishes  to  know  before 
the  engraving  is  made  what  will  be  its  height. 

From  the  corner  A of  the  drawing  (Fig.  24)  measure  a 
distance  AP)  (2V0  inches)  on  the  base  line  AF.  From  B erect  a 
perpendicular  line  BC  to  intersect  the  diagonal  AX.  The  dis- 
tance BC  can  be  measured.  Its  length,  inches,  will  be  the 
height  of  the  engraving. 

These  lines  are  to  be  made  lightly  with  a pencil  and  are  to  be 
erased  before  the  drawing  or  photograph  is  sent  to  the  engraver. 
They  should  not  be  made  a part  of  the  instructions  given  to  the 
engraver. 

HOW  TO  DETERMINE  THE  PROPORTIONS 
OF  A DRAWING 

In  this  problem  the  size  of  the  engraving  (not  made  as  yet) 
is  known.  The  draftsman  wishes  to  know  what  must  be  the 
proportions  of  his  drawing  (also  not  made),  so  that  it  may  be 
reduced  to  the  proper  size. 

In  Fig.  25,  ABCD  represents  the  desired  size  of  the  engrav- 
ing. Extend  indefinitely  the  lines  AB  and  BC.  Extend  the  diag- 
onal BD  indefinitely.  Upon  one  of  the  two  extended  lines  AB 
or  BC  (BC  for  example),  lay  out  a width  BX.  This  will  be  the 
width  of  the  drawing.  This  distance  BX  represents  an  arbitrary 
decision  of  the  artist.  lie  can  make  it  twice  or  thrice  the  desired 
width  of  the  engraving.  It  is  better  to  make  it  no  greater  than 
three  times. 

Erect  the  perpendicular  line  XY  to  intersect  the  extended 
diagonal  BD.  XY,  measured  in  inches,  represents  the  height 
that  must  be  given  to  the  drawing. 

THE  MATHEMATICAL  METHOD 

If  the  figures  representing  the  proportion  of  the  copy  and 
engraving  are  non-fractional,  the  problem  may  be  calculated 


38 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


^ the 

^ is  8 X 12 


mathematically.  If 
original  copy 
inches 

and  the  width  of 
the  plate  is  to  be 
two  inches,  the 
height  of  the  plate 
may  be  calculated 
thus:  8:  12::2:  ? 
The  missing  factor 
will  be  found  to  be 
3. 

If  the  engrav- 
ing is  to  be  15x9 
inches  and  the  ar- 
tist wishes  to  know 
how  large  to  make 
the  drawing,  he 
must  choose  first 
some  arbitrary  or 
convenient  scale  of 
enlargement,  say 
twice  the  dimen- 
sions of  the  plate. 
This  would  cause 
the  drawing  to  be 
18  inches  wide  (2 
times  9).  The  ra- 
t i o would  b e 

15:  ?::9:18.  The  missing  factor  representing  the  height  of 
the  drawing  will  be  found  to  be  30. 


PREPARATION  OF  COPY 


39 


'£4i/V\JL^ 


to-jCLq^ 

CL , /f  I'CCJ^jcLlaJh.^^ 


Fig.  26 — Specimen  copy  -for  halftone  with  directions  for  the  engraver. 


HOW  TO  ORDER  ENGRAVINGS 

I.  Halftones. 

Paste  a strip  of  paper  on  the  upper  or  lower  edge  of  photo- 
graph to  be  reproduced.  Upon  it  write: 

(a)  Desired  width  of  the  engraving  in  inches.  (Indicate 
specifically  with  arrow  lines  the  outermost  points  to  be  included  in 
the  plate.) 

(b)  Kind  of  screen  to  be  used. 

(c)  Kind  of  finish — square,  outline,  vignette  or  oval. 


40 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


(d)  Indicate  if  special  work  on  photo  or  plate  is  desired — 
“retouching”  of  photo;  mortising  or  “tooling-out”  on  plate; 
special  border  design. 

(e)  Name  and  address  of  sender. 

(f)  Specify  time  limit  for  return  of  engraving. 

Mail  with  flat  cardboard  covering. 


^ IT  ‘IL  -b> 

Fig.  27 — Specimen  copy  for  line  plate  with  directions  for  engraver. 

II.  Line  engravings. 

Leave  sufficient  margin  around  drawing.  If  copy  is  a page 
of  printed  matter,  or  clippings,  mount  it  on  white  cardboard. 
Touch  with  black  (india)  ink  any  gray  spots  on  letters.  Mark 
on  lower  margin: 

(a)  Desired  width  of  engraving  in  inches.  (Indicate  outer- 
most points  with  horizontal  arrows). 

(b)  Whether  special  work  is  desired  (mortising,  etc.). 

(c)  Name  and  address  of  sender  (may  be  written  on  back 
of  copy). 

(d)  Time  for  return  of  plate. 

In  ordering  plates  it  is  well  to  enclose  in  a separate  envelope 
a general  statement  covering  work  desired,  especially  if  there 
should  be  anything  in  doubt,  which  may  be  left  to  tbe  judgment 
of  the  engraver. 

EXPLANATION  OF  TERMS 

Halftone,  square  plate — A halftone  in  which  the  outside 
edges  are  rectangular  and  parallel ; may  be  with  or  without  single 
black  border. 


TRADE  TERMS  DEFINED 


41 


Halftone,  outlined — A halftone  with  the  background  outside 
of  the  object  entirely  cut  away,  leaving  a definite  edge  without 
shading  or  vignetting. 

Halftone,  vignetted — A halftone  in  which  one  or  more  of  the 
edges  of  the  object  are  shaded  from  dark  tones  to  pure  white. 

Halftone,  outlined  and  vignetted — A halftone  in  which  part 
of  the  background  is  cut  away  and  part  vignetted. 

Halftone,  oval — one  whose  outer  edges  form  an  oval. 

Retouching — brush  work  done  by  an  artist  on  original  photo 
copy. 

Mortise — to  cut  out  portions  of  a plate  for  insertion  of  type 
in  the  block. 

Tooling-out — hand-chiseling  on  plate  to  lighten  the  tone  or 
to  produce  a white  space. 

Special  border  design — any  decorative  surrounding  of  a 
picture  other  than  straight  lines- 

OTHER  TRADE  TERMS 

Direct  halftone — A halftone  to  produce  which  the  screen  neg- 
ative is  made  by  direct  exposure  of  the  article  itself,  and  not  from 
photograph  or  drawing. 

High-light  halftone — A halftone  plate  in  which  the  elimina- 
tion of  the  dots  in  the  high-lights  is  accomplished  by  a photo- 
chemical process  instead  of  by  cutting  them  out  with  a tool. 

News-tone — A name  sometimes  given  to  a coarse-screen  half- 
tone, always  etched  on  zinc  and  used  mostly  for  newspaper  work. 
Also  known  as  “quarter-tone.” 

Duograph — Two  halftone  plates  made  from  one  copy  and 
usually  printed  in  black  and  one  tint,  or  two  shades  of  the  same 
color,  the  two  plates  made  with  dift'erent  screen  angles. 

Duotype — Two  halftone  plates  made  from  one  copv,  both 
from  the  same  negative  and  etched  differently. 

Two-color  halftone — Two  halftone  plates,  either  (or  both) 
an  etched  plate  containing  parts  or  all  of  the  design,  to  be  printed 
in  two  contrasting  colors.  . . . , ^ 

* Three  or  more  color  halftones — Same  as  definition  of  two- 
color  halftone,  using  three  or  more  etched  halftone  plates. 


42 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


Three-color  process  plates — Printing  plates  produced  from 
colored  copy  or  objects  to  reproduce  the  picture  or  object  in  its 
original  colors  by  a photo-chemical  separation  of  the  primary 
colors,  and  etched  halftone  plates  to  reproduce  each  separate 
color,  usually  printed  in  yellow,  red  and  blue.  An  approximate 
result  may  be  obtained  from  one-color  copy  by  using  the  skill  of 
the  workmen  in  securing  the  color  values  on  the  etched  plates. 

Four-color  process  plates — Same  as  the  three-color  process, 
with  the  addition  of  a gray  or  black  plate. 

Combination  plates,  black  only — Plates  made  by  the  use  of  a 
key  plate  and  color  plates,  either  halftone  or  line,  to  be  printed  in 
two  or  more  colors. 

Ben  Day  plates — Plates  made  by  laying  shaded  tints  on  cop- 
per or  zinc  and  etching  them  to  produce  colors  or  combination  of 
colors  when  printed. 

Deep  etching — Additional  etching  made  necessary  to  secure 
proper  printing  depth  where  this  cannot  be  accomplished  by  rout- 
ing, and  usually  caused  by  the  use  of  dense  black  lines,  or  line 
negatives  and  halftone  negatives  being  combined  in  one  plate. 

Positive  etching — A plate  from  which  the  blacks  of  the  origi- 
nal copy  will  print  white  and  the  whites  will  print  black. 

Embossing  plate — A plate  cut  or  etched  below  its  surface 
for  the  purpose  of  raising  the  image  of  the  printed  surface. 

Stamping  die — A relief  plate  engraved  on  brass  or  zinc  for 
stamping  book  covers  or  similar  surfaces. 

ENGRAVINGS  USED  IN  UNIVERSITY  MISSOURIAN 

Besides  original  halftones  and  line  etchings,  electrotypes, 
stereotypes  and  occasionally  wood-engravings  are  used  in  the 
Missourian. 

Electrotypes,  or  electros,  are  duplicates  of  orginal  line  and 
halftone  engravings.  A wax  impression  of  the  original  plate  or 
type  is  placed  in  an  electrolysis  bath,  where  it  receives  a deposit  of 
copper.  This  thin  facing  of  copper  is  then  backed  up  with  lead 
and  mounted  on  wood  to  form  a printing  plate.  The  process  offers 
the  advantage  of  cheapness,  being  one-third  to  one-half  the  cost 
of  the  original  plate,  and  convenience  to  the  advertiser.  A 
whole  advertisement,  including  type  and  illustrative  engraving 


ELECTROS  AND  STEREOTYPES 


43 


can  be  duplicated  in  one  plate  by  electrotyping.  The  process  offers 
a distinct  advantage  to  an  advertiser  who  wishes  to  run  the  same 
ad  simultaneously  in  several  publications. 

A.dvertisers  who  order  signature  engravings  and  other  plates 
that  are  to  he  repeatedly  used  in  the  press,  should  he  advised  to  in- 


wn  CELCR5 


a 


4- 


ReuiMVjt.  ti  2. " 


Claud  Wheeler 




^ ^ cu^JL  X 


Fig.  28 — Specimen  copy  for  an  order  for  electros. 


elude  an  order  for  electros  with  the  original  order.  After 
thousands  of  impressions  are  made  from  a plate,  it  begins  to  show 
signs  of  wear  by  blotting  or  yielding  indistinct  lines.  For  every 
desired  size  of  electro  an  original  engraving  must  be  ordered,  in- 
asmuch as  the  electros  are  made  from  the  original  engraving  and 
not  directly  from  the  coi)y.  Most  engraving  houses  have  electro- 
typing departments  or  are  able  otherwise  to  handle  the  work  for 
the  customer. 

Stereotypes  may  be  used  in  any  weekly  or  daily  paper. 
There  are  several  points  to  be  remembered  by  the  advertiser 
who  furnishes  this  kind  of  plate  to  a medium.  If  the  publica- 
tion is  printed  on  the  perfecting  press  using  curved  stereotype 
plates,  he  may  send  the  matrix.  Casting  may  be  done  in  the  print- 
ing plant.  If  a flat-bed  press  is  used  and  no  stereotyping  equip- 
ment exists  in  the  plant,  he  should  send  the  plate  already  cast  and 
mounted. 


44 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


Stereotyping  as  a method  for  duplicating  plates  and  type  mat- 
ter is  not  so  satisfactory  as  electrotyping,  for  a more  porous, 
baser  metal  is  used  in  casting  stereotypes  than  is  used  in  the 
printing  surface  of  the  electro.  This  sometimes  causes  the  loss 
of  details  in  a picture. 

Wood  cuts,  the  first  method  used  in  printing  pictures,  sur- 
vive mainly  in  catalogue  illustrations,  although  they  are  occa- 
sionally used  in  newspaper  ad  illustrations.  A commercial  wood 
cut  print  may  be  distinguished  by  the  fine  mechanical  parallel 
lines  of  shading.  For  newspaper  use,  electros  are  generally  made 
from  the  wood  cut,  to  avoid  the  tendency  of  the  original  to  split, 
warp  and  wear  out  quickly. 

ENGRAVING  CHARGES 

More  specific  information  on  this  subject  is  offered  in  the 
advertising  and  educational  literature  prepared  by  various  en- 
graving houses  than  can  be  given  in  a treatise  of  this  nature.  A 
few  general  points  that  are  applicable  to  the  methods  of  de- 
termining charges  may  be  treated. 

A fixed  charge  is  made  on  a halftone  or  line  engraving  below 
a certain  number  of  square  inches  in  area,  no  matter  how  small 
may  be  the  plate.  A plate  coming  under  this  rating  is  called  a 
“minimum.”  Beyond  the  minimum  size,  a scale  rate  is  charged 
up  to  a size  containing  30  square  inches,  beyond  which  a square 
inch  rate  is  charged.  Extra  work,  such  as  mortising,  applying  Ben 
Day  mechanical  tints,  special  finishing  on  halftones,  retouching 
on  photographs,  etc.,  is  charged  on  the  basis  of  the  time  of  the 
skilled  employee. 

Care  in  preparing  copy  may  result  in  a saving  to  the  user  of 
engravings.  Avoid  sprawling  a drawing  over  a large  area  in 
which  much  white  space  appears.  ]\Iake  the  drawing  compact. 
It  may  be  possible  then  to  order  the  engraving  made  smaller  and 
save  charges,  if  it  is  beyond  the  minimum  in  size.  The  size  of  the 
drawing,  otherwise,  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  plate  charges,  ex- 
cept in  the  case  of  copy  of  unusual  size  or  character  which  may 
give  extra  trouble  to  the  plate-maker. 


THE  STANDARD  SCALE 


45 


In  a series  of  drawings  or  photos,  if  possible,  make  the  copy 
of  such  relative  proportions  as  to  allow  the  same  scale  of  reduc- 
tion for  each.  Try  to  avoid  having  one  twice  the  final  size, 
another  three  times,  etc.  Make  all  twice  or  three  times  the  re- 
duction size,  as  the  case  may  demand.  The  engraver  may  repro- 
duce several  pieces  of  copy  on  one  negative  when  they  are  of 
similar  character  and  are  on  the  same  reduction  scale.  This  helps 
him  to  keep  down  expense  and  to  add  to  his  service.  In  figuring 
the  area  of  a plate,  preliminary  to  fixing  charges,  the  engraver 
multiplies  the  greatest  width  by  the  greatest  height  (block 
measure).  An  L-shaped  plate  (one  with  a corner  mortised  out) 
would  cost  even  more  than  if  the  block  were  left  whole,  because 
of  the  extra  work  of  mortising. 

The  manufacturing  photo-engravers  are  getting  out  of  the 
rut  in  which  the  printing  industry  has  been  mired  for  years — fix- 
ing charges  that  have  no  relation  to  the  cost  of  production. 
Through  their  organization,  the  International  Association  of 
Manufacturing  Photo-Engravers,  much  has  been  done  in  the  way 
of  standardization  of  trade  terms,  trade  methods  and  trade 
charges. 

The  standard  scale  of  prices  adopted  by  this  body  during 
the  past  year  supersedes  the  old  incorrect  square  inch  method, 
which  after  years  of  cost-findings  was  found  to  have  no  relation 
to  cost  of  production — thus  being  unfair  to  producer  and  con- 
sumer. Under  the  old  method  many  of  the  small  sizes  of  plates 
sold  below  cost,  and  the  profit  of  larger  sizes  was  absorbed  in 
the  loss,  thus  making  it  nearly  impossible  to  secure  a just  and  fair 
average  profit.  The  new  scale  is  based  upon  exact  cost  knowl- 
edge, and  is  claimed  to  be  a scientific,  correct  and  satisfactory 
gauge  of  values.  The  impelling  cause  for  this  adjustment  and 
moderate  increase  of  prices  has  been  the  enormous  increase  in  the 
metal  and  chemical  markets  caused  by  the  war,  and  following 
upon  a steady  increase  in  labor  and  general  expense.  The  scale 
is  a basis  of  values  intended  to  be  net,  but,  owing  to  fluctuations 
of  costs,  may  have  a percentage  added  or  subtracted  to  secure 
market  prices.  It  is  a much  simpler  way  to  ascertain  prices  than 
by  the  old  method  of  computation. 

The  two  following  pages  reproduce  this  standard  scale : 


standard  Scale  of  Prices  For  Halftones  and 


STANDARD  SCALE 
OF  PRICES 


Zinc  Etchings 

IN  EFFECT  JANUARY  1,  1916.  THIS  SCALE 
SUPERSEDES  ALL  PREVIOUS  SCALES 


ENGRAVINGS 


Time 

ZUkluw 

Hnir- 

tones 

S«Mr« 

Inches 

1X0 

3 

2.C0 

1X5 

« 

2.10 

1.10 

7 

2.20 

1.15 

2.30 

1X0 

« 

2.40 

1X5 

lO 

2.50 

1X0 

11 

2.60 

1.35 

12 

2.70 

140 

13 

2.80 

1.46 

14 

2.90 

1X0 

13 

XCO 

1X5 

16 

3.10 

1.60 

17 

3X0 

1X5 

18 

3.30 

1.70 

19 

3.40 

1.75 

20 

3.50 

1X0 

21 

3.60 

1.85 

22 

3.70 

1.90 

^3 

3.80 

1.95 

24 

3X0 

2X0 

23 

4.00 

2X5 

26 

4.10 

2.10 

27 

4X0 

2.15 

28 

4X0 

2X0 

29 

4X0> 

2X5 

do 

4.50 

2X3 

31 

4.65 

240 

32 

4.80 

2.48 

83 

4.95 

2.55 

34  5.10 

2.63 

33 

5X5 

2.70 

36 

5.40 

2.78 

37 

A.55 

2.85 

38 

5.70 

2.93 

89 

5X5 

3.00 

40  >6X0 

3X6 

41 

6.15 

3.15 

42 

6X0 

3X3 

43 

6X5 

3X0 

44 

6.60 

3X8 

45 

6.75 

345 

46 

6.90 

3X3 

47 

7X5 

3X0 

48 

7X0 

3.68 

49 

7X5 

3.75 

50 

7.50 

3X3 

31 

7.65 

3X0 

32 

7X0 

3.88 

58 

7.95 

4X6 

34 

8.10 

4.1^ 

53 

8.25 

4X0 

56 

8.40 

4X8 

37 

8X5 

4X5 

38 

8.70 

443 

50 

8X5 

4X0 

60 

9.00 

4X8 

61 

9.15 

4X6 

62 

9X0 

4.73 

68 

945 

4.80 

64 

9X0 

4X8 

63 

9.75 

4X6 

63 

9.90 

6X3 

67  10X9 

6.10 

68  10X0 

6.18 

69  10X5 

6X6 

70  10X0 

0««r  70  •«.  4b. 
7H  ct*.  1 5 ct>. 


For  plates  less  than  30  square  inches  the  basis 
of  charges  is:  for  HALFTONES  (square  finished), 
a fixed  charge  of  $1.50,  plus  10  cents  for  each 
square  inch  of  size;  and  for  ZINC  ETCHINGS,  a 
Fixed  charge  of  75  cents,  plus  5 cents  for  each 
square  inch  of  size. 

For  plates  over  30  square  nches  the  basis  of 
charges  is:  for  HALFTONES,  15  cents  per  square 
inch,  and  for  ZINC  ETCHINGS,  7M  cents  per 
square  inch. 

On  long  narrow  plates,  figure  the  width  as  one- 
fourth  the  length.  (This  is  necessary  because  of 
waste  on  large  negatives.) 

All  plates  charged  at  block  measure  (not  print- 
ing face).  In  estimating  the  size  of  halftones,  add 
one-fourth  inch  to  the  length  and  width  for  bevel. 

Unmounted  plates  same  price  as  blocked. 

Plates  made  from  copy  requiring  a reduction 
to  less  than  one-sixth  its  length  or  width,  double 
Scale  price. 

1.  HALFTONES — Prices  are  based  upon  repro- 
ductions made  direct  from  photographs  or 
wash-drawings  furnished  (without  alterations 
or  extra  work  on  copy  or  plate),  square  finish, 
mounted  on  wood,  block  measure.  Metal  base, 
50%  extra. 

2.  Halftones  from  paintings,  or  direct  from  the 
object,  charged  extra,  according  to  the  extra 
time  involved.  (Where  colored  copy  requires  a 
separation  negative  in  order  to  produce  a suitable 
halftone,  an  additional  charge  is  made  on  the 
basis  of  an  isochromatic  negative  and  print. 
Minimum,  $1.50.) 

3.  Retouching,  altering  or  impro\’ing  copies  and 
grouping  photographs,  charged  as  time  work. 

4.  Vignetted  or  Outlined  halftones  charged  extra 
as  time  work — minimum  33J^%  extra.  (Half- 
tones from  which  all  waste  metal  can  be  removed 
with  a beveler  only,  are  to  be  considered  “Square” 
plates.  All  others  are  considered  as  “Outline” 
or  “Vignette”  plates.) 

5.  Hand  tooling,  inside  cutouts,  re-etching  and 
burnishing  charged  extra  as  time  work.  Net. 

6.  Halftones  finer  than  150  line,  25%  extra. 

7.  Duplicate  halftones,  square  finish,  ordered  at 
same  time  as  originals,  15%  less. 

8.  Extra  negatives  for  halftone  groups,  one-half 
Scale  price.  (Where  extra  negatives  are  made 
and  inserted  into  a group  or  combination,  they 
should  be  figured  at  one-half  the  Scale,  based  on 
the  size  of  the  negative  after  they  are  in- 
serted.) 

9.  Inserting  negatives  and  double-printing 

charged  extra  as  time  work.  Net. 

10.  Duotypes,  square  finish,  two  plates  made  from 
same  negative,  each  plate  50%  extra.  (Proofing 
extra.) 

11.  Duographs,  square  finish,  each  plate  made  from 
a separate  negative,  each  plate  double  Scale 
price,  minimum  charge  $10.00.  Minimum  size 
10  square  inches. 

12.  Two-color  halftones,  square  finish,  requiring 
color  separation  negatives,  each  plate  three  times 
Scale  price,  minimum  charge  $20.00.  Minimum 
size  18  square  inches. 

13.  Three-Color-Process  halftones,  square  finish, 
each  plate  three  times  Scale  price,  minimum 
charge  $40.00.  Minimum  size  29  square 
inches. 


14.  Four-Color-Process  halftones,  square  finish,  each  plate  three 
times  Scale  price,  minimum  charge  $50.00.  Minimum  size  27 
square  inches. 

To  compute  the  prices  of  Color  Process  Plates  rapidly,  take 
the  Halftone  figures  that  correspond  to  the  size  of  the  job  you 
are  estimating: 

For  Two-Color  Halftone,  square  finish,  multiply  Halftone 
figures  on  Scale  by  6;  Outline  or  Vignette,  multiply  by  6^. 

For  Three-Color-Process  Plates,  square  finish,  multiply  Half- 
tone figures  on  Scale  by  9;  Outline  or  Vignette,  multiply  by  10. 

For  Four-Color-Process  Plates,  square  finish,  multiply  Halftone 
figures  on  Scale  by  12;  Outline  or  Vignette,  multiply  by  133^. 

The  charge  for  Outlining  and  Vignetting  of  Color  Process 
Plates  is  computed  exactly  as  the  charge  for  the  same  work  on 
black  and  white  halftones,  viz:  333^%  on  figures  on  Scale  for 
each  plate. 

15.  Anchoring  halftones  on  block,  25c  for  first  anchor,  10c  for  each 
additional  anchor  in  same  block.  Net. 

16.  Line  etchings  on  copper  and  combination  line  and  halftone 
etching,  double  Scale  price  for  halftones.  Negatives  and  insert- 
ing charged  extra. 

17.  Zinc  halftones,  85  line  screen  or  coarser,  25%  less  than  copper 
halftones. 

18.  ZINC  ETCHINGS — Prices  are  based  upon  reproductions 
from  black  and  white  line-drawings  or  prints  furnished 

(without  alterations  to  copy  or  plate),  mounted  on  wood.  Mount- 
ing on  solid  metal:  75%  of  zinc  scale  extra.  Minimum 
charge  40  cents,  net. 

19.  Reproductions  from  lithograph  or  steel  plate  copy,  script,  pen- 
manship, shorthand,  scientific  or  other  difficult  copy,  charged 
50%  extra. 

20.  Extra  line  negatives,  one-half  Scale  price. 

21.  Inserting  negatives  and  double  printing  charged  extra  as 
time  work.  Net. 

22.  Etchings  of  tint  plates  to  register,  each  plate  50%  extra. 

23.  Laying  tints  and  painting-in  color  plates  charged  as  time  work. 
Net. 

24.  All  color  plates  to  be  charged  at  the  same  price  as  for  the  largest 
plate  of  the  set. 

25.  Reverse  etchings,  black  to  white,  or  white  to  black,  mounted 
on  wood,  50%  extra.  Reverse  etchings  on  metal  for  embossing, 
2 34  times  Scale  price.  Hand  tooling  extra.  Net. 

26.  Extra  proofs  and  proofs  in  colors,  charged  as  time  work.  Net. 

27.  Mortising  on  wood,  outside  10c,  inside  15c;  on  metal,  outside, 
15c;  inside  25c.  Irregular  mortises  5c  per  corner.  Net. 


Supplementary  Explanatory  Notes 

High-Light  Halftones — Four  times  halftone  figures  on  scale. 

All  original  engravings  by  any  process  are  invariably  mounted  on 
wood.  Plates  are  never  mounted  upon  metal  base  unless  specifically 
ordered  that  way,  and  for  which  extra  charge  is  always  made. 

Article  7.  When  duplicate  outlined  or  vignetted  halftones  are 
ordered,  the  15%  discount  applies  only  on  the  basis  of  a square 
finished  plate.  It  does  not  apply  to  the  3334%  charge  for  outlining 
and  vignetting. 


Example:  One  duplicate  halftone,  5x8  in $6.00 

Discount,  15% 90 

$5.10 

Outlining,  plus  3334%  of  Scale  price 2.00 


$7.10 

Finishing  halftones  in  oval  or  circular  forms  costs  extra  as  follows: 
2x3  inches  or  smaller,  25  cents  each;  3x4,  35  cents  each;  4x5,  50  cents 
each;  larger  sizes  in  proportion. 

Mounting  on  Wood:  20%  of  zinc  etching  figures  on  scale.  Mini- 
mum charge,  25  cents,  net. 

Unusual  service,  or  work  required  in  less  than  four  hours’  working 
time,  usually  charged  double. 

Art  Work — Sketches,  drawings,  retouching,  grouping  photographs 
or  alterations  to  copy,  charged  on  basis  of  time  of  artist. 

No  sketches  submitted  on  a competitive  basis  unless  paid  for  by 
the  customer. 

Line  Etchings  on  Zinc  heavier  than  16-gauge,  and  up  to  11  points 
thickness — Double  zinc  etching  figures.  Minimum,  $3.00. 

To  ascertain  the  size  of  a plate  to  be  made  from  a larger  copy, 
multiply  the  short  dimension  of  the  copy  by  the  long  dimension^  of 
the  plate  to  be  made,  and  divide  that  sum  by  the  long  dimension 
of  the  copy.  Example:  Copy  is  9x12  inches,  plate  is  to  be  7 inches 
long — ^9X7=63-7-12=534.  Answer;  Plate  will  bo  534x7  inches.  - 


48 


MAKING  THE  PRINTED  PICTURE 


HINTS  FOR  USERS  OF  ENGRAVINGS 

A halftone  electrotype  is  successful  for  screen  denominations 
up  to  150  lines.  It  is  never  quite  the  equal  of  an  original. 

The  limit  of  screen  fineness  in  a halftone  that  is  to  be  stereo- 
typed is  100  lines. 


A zinc  halftone  should  yield  at  least  100,000  impressions  before 
deteriorating.  A halftone  that  is  to  be  used  continuously, 
in  a standing  ad,  for  example,  should  be  made  in  copper  if 
finer  than  85  lines. 


Give  the  engraver  as  much  time  as  you  can  possibly  allow.  If 
you  would  have  him  do  his  best  work,  don’t  rush  him. 


An  electrotype  may  usually  be  distinguished  from  an  original 
copper  or  zinc  plate  by  the  greater  thickness  of  its  metal  face. 


It  is  well  to  remember  that  engravings  are  no  longer  priced  on 
any  square-inch  rate ; that  in  estimating  for  halftone  price, 
one-fourth  inch  is  added  to  length  and  width  of  printing  sur- 
face for  bevel ; also,  that  long,  narrow  plates  of  any  kind  are 
charged  as  if  the  width  were  one-quarter  the  length. 


THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  MISSOURI 
BULLETIN 

JOURNALISM  SERIES 

/ 

Issued"  Four  Times  a Year 

Edited  by 

CHARLES  G.  ROSS 
Associate  Professor  of  Journalism 

* 

1.  Missouri  Laws  Affecting  Newspapers,  by  Walter  Williams,  Dean 
of  the  School  of  Journalism.  (Out  of  print.) 

2.  Journalism  Week  in  Print:  From  Speeches  by  Newspaper  Makers 
and  Advertising  Men  at  the  University,  May  6 to  10^  1912.  (Out 
of  print. ) 

3.  Retail  Advertising  and  the  Newspaper,  by  Joseph  E.  Chasnoff. 
(Out  of  print.) 

4.  The  News  in  the  County  Paper,  by  Charles  G.  Ross,  associate 
professor  of  journalism.  (Out  of  print.) 

6.  Journalism  Week,  1913.  (Out  of  print.) 

6.  Building  a Circulation:  Methods  and  Ideals  for  Small-Town  News- 
papers, by  J.  B.  Powell,  instructor  in  advertising. 

7.  The  Editorial  Page,  by  Robert  S.  Mann,  assistant  in  journalism. 

8.  Journalism  Week,  1914.  (Out  of  print.) 

9.  The  World’s  Journalism,  by  Walter  Williams,  Dean  of  the  School 
of  Journalism. 

10.  Newspaper  Efficiency  in  the  Small  Town,  by  J.  B.  Powell,  instructor 
in  advertising. 

11.  Journalism  Week,  1916. 

12.  Deskbook  of  the  School  of  Journalism,  edited  by  Charles  G.  Ross, 
associate  professor  of  journalism. 

13.  The  Journalist’s  Library:  Books  for  Reference  and  Reading,  by 
Charles  E.  Kane,  assistant  in  journalism. 

14.  Making  the  Printed  Picture:  A Treatise  on  Photo-Engraving 
Methods,  by  Herbert  W.  Smith,  instructor  in  illustrative  art. 

The  University  of  Missouri  Bulletin — issued 
three  times  monthly;  entered  as  second-class 
matter  at  the  postoffiee  at  Columbia,  Missouri. 

2,600 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URB 


3 0112  107834472 


